No. 12.— 1860-] .] PROCEEDINGS, 1861. 



xiii 



solution. In 1858, the present Governor of Ceylon visited Cliilka Lake ; 

 lie was obviously not aware of what Sir E. Tennent had heard or seen 

 ten years before ; his book was not published till 1859. He gives the 

 following account of the music in the water, which is as nearly as 

 possible the same as had been previously given. Mr. Ward being 

 once more a perfectly independent witness : — 



" I ought not to take my leave of Batticaloa, which I may not have an 

 opportunity of revisiting, without mentioning the natural phenomenon 

 for which its lake is remarkable — the singing fish. I was too ill during 

 my stay in 1857 to expose myself in the night air upon the water, and 

 I confess that, in spite of the impression then made upon my fellow- 

 travellers, amongst whom were Major Gen. Lockyer and Capt. Gosset, 

 I went out upon the present occasion with a considerable amount of 

 incredulity, and was the last to believe the evidence of my own senses ; 

 Dr. Johnston being satisfied as to the existence of a sound apparently 

 proceeding from the water long before I could realise it. But after 

 changing the position of the boat once or twice, there could be no 

 doubt about the matter. The sound rose and swelled, and absolutely 

 vibrated about us in a manner that left no question as to the fact, what- 

 ever may be the causes. Its character is indescribable. It is not like 

 any other sound. It is only heard at night. It has nothing harmonious 

 or musical about it. There are no modulations, no variety of notes, 

 except what the increase and decrease in strength produced. As to its 

 origin, nobody knows anything. It may be the fish, to whom it is popu- 

 larly attributed. It may be the rush of air through rocks partially 

 hollowed. There is nothing but conjecture to guide us in this respect. 

 The results all can vouch for. And these results are certainly more distinct 

 within a limited distance from the shore, though heard occasionally in 

 deep water. I am no naturalist. I can only state what I personally saw 

 and experienced. Others must explain it. Something similar, it is said, 

 occurs in the Bay of Naples. It is strange that between Naples and 

 Batticaloa there should be this one point of resemblance." 



Sir Emerson Tennent describes the same thing as heard by him at the 

 same place in 1848 ; but he doubts if the sounds proceeded from fish, and 

 ascribed them to shell-fish. 



The following is an extract from * letter (February, 1849) I received a 

 few weeks after the first notice had been published :— 



"Musical Fish.— Sir, —In a late number of the Times I noticed some 

 remarks respecting the musical fish, as they have been rather aptly termed ; 

 and it may be interesting to the readers of the Times to be informed, 

 that the existence of such a phenomenon has been long known to the 

 residents at Vizagapatam. I have heard the musical sounds, like prolonged 

 notes on a harp, when rowing on the back water at that station ; and 

 they were generally supposed to proceed from the fish coming in contact 

 with the sides of the boat. To the best of my recollection, the sounds 

 were never heard at a distance from it." — Bombay Times, Feb. 13. 



Vizagapatam, on the Coromandel Coast, is 498 miles north of Madras, 

 the shores abounding with shallow salt-water creeks, like those on the 

 eastern side of Ceylon, and all along the Malabar Coast, I think that I 

 have very clearly made out that musical lishes do exist in abundance ; 



